Ethereal Dark Folk/Shoegaze/Post-Rock artist Ailise Blake has unveiled a music video for the first single “Apollo (The Attraction Towards The Sun)” taken from her upcoming sophomore album, “Soave,” set to release on November 07, 2025 via These Hands Melt.
Watch the music video for “Apollo (The Attraction Towards The Sun)” via the YouTube player below:
“Soave is what we perceive silently beneath the action of everyday life, that veil of calm and stillness found when we stop to listen to ourselves ; it represents the light and the tenderness, yet it is still and untouchable, it is alchemical, it is transcendental, it gives a sense of peace completely subjective to the mind that perceives it.”
Italian-born, France-based musician Ailise Blake, also known as Ali Macabre, has signed with the Italian label These Hands Melt for the release of her new album, “Soave.” The first single and video from the album, “Apollo (The Attraction Towards The Sun),” is available now.
Ailise Blake, a former member of the bands J.C. Satan and La Secte du Futur, is a solo artist whose work has a mystical quality, characterised by what some refer to as “Spectral Folk” and is a blend of moody, dark and ethereal songwriting. The upcoming album follows her 2020 debut, “Songs From The Uncanny Valley.”
Ailise Blake explains the deep, personal meaning behind the album’s title: “Soave“: “I titled this album ‘Soave’ not only because of the sound of the word itself, which to my ears sounds like the wind, but because for me, soave is what we perceive silently beneath the action of everyday life, that veil of calm and stillness found when we stop to listen to ourselves; it represents the light and the tenderness, yet it is still and untouchable, it is alchemical, it is transcendental, it gives a sense of peace completely subjective to the mind that perceives it.”
She adds that the album represents a “hermit’s journey” that she took while recording alone in her studio in a remote mountain village: “I wanted to record ‘Soave’ in my studio, which is located in a remote village at the top of a mountain, in the middle of a forest, alone, during winter, when my village is practically empty. I’ve spent months in the dark writing, I didn’t talk to people for extended periods of time, and I didn’t listen to any music but my own. I wanted this experience to be as close as possible to what could be defined as a hermit’s journey, but mostly, I wanted it to be honest, and as raw as possible, keeping the production of this album a radical one.”
The album, which Ailise Blake wrote, recorded, produced, and mixed herself, is intertwined with her study of “Thelemic Mysteries and the Ceremonial Magick” and is an “explicit ode” to this philosophy. “This album is part of my initiatic journey and is intertwined with what we westerners call Ceremonial Magick, specifically the one that is practised at the heart of the Thelemic Order of the Ordo Templi Orientis,” said Ailise Blake. “It is an album for everyone and an album for those who transmit the Current 93. What I desire the most with this work is to be able to convey that sense of stillness of the mind, to enable the listener to take a breath when we cannot do so on our own.”
“Soave” is scheduled for release on November 07, 2025, and will be available in several formats: Limited edition ‘ginger haze’ 12″ LP vinyl (150 copies), CD Digipack, Limited cassette tape (100 copies) and Digital.
The album’s artwork was created by Ailise Blake, with the layout done by Lucia Macip and These Hands Melt. It was mastered by Nikolaus Jira.
Ailise Blake’s music is recommended to fans of Grouper, Midwife and Current 93.
Tracklist:
01. Apollo (The Attraction Towards The Sun)
02. Lustration
03. Consecration
04. Devotion
05. Primordial
06. Exaltation (Part I)
07. Annihilation (Part II)
08. Risorgimento
Pre-Order “Soave” on Bandcamp: https://ailiseblake.bandcamp.com/album/soave